The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

In the fourth powerful novel in Stephen King's best-selling fantasy quest, The Dark Tower beckons Roland, the Last Gunslinger, and the four companions he has gathered along the road....

Exciting but somehow optional

Couldn't finish the book for 5 years, it seemed just too boring, but when the characters came alive with Muller's different voices I couldn't stop lis..Mehr anzeigen »tening. It's slow to start and largely disconnected with the previous books as it is "just" Roland's backstory. But it picks up the pace near the end and although the book then makes clear where it's heading you want to hear it all and find out for yourself.Just 4 stars for the story, because it seemed King only wrote Wizard and Glass, because he didn't know how to continue the Ka-Tet's journey. A thrilling tale nonetheless, but, honestly, I think you can skip it and not miss much of Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy's story.

The Wind Through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel

For those discovering the epic best-selling Dark Tower series for the first time—and for its legions of dedicated fans—an immensely satisfying stand-alone novel and perfect introduction to the series....

Reunion with the Dark Tower Ka Tet

Of course I did not want to miss the opportunity to meet my old friends from the Dark Tower Series again. Unfortunately the encounter is very brief an..Mehr anzeigen »d does not reveal a lot of new information. I am not sure, whether the narrative has some merit as a standalone story.

Going through the story is like peeling an onion.In the first layer we meet Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy on their way to the dark tower. They have to take refuge from a starkblast, an extremely strong storm with incredibly low temperatures, and to pass the time, Roland is telling a story from his early days.

In this part we learn a little bit more about the young Roland, his early friends, his father and his complex relationship to his mother. Still a very young man and novice gunslinger he is sent to a far away province to solve a series of mysterious and cruel murders. He finds a young boy, the sole survivor of a ghastly and brutal massacre, and takes him under his protection. To calm him down, he tells him a story, his mother was telling him, when he was a small child, "the wind through the keyhole".

This is the only really great part of the book. It is a story with a little bit of magic, but also filled with the problems of a young boy growing up to become a man, a story of courage and fear, perseverance and despair. Stephen shows his skill in telling a story and he knows, how to enchant the reader.

After all, it is a nice and harmless book, but it does not really add a lot the great Dark Tower books